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Tape ball cricket thread - Tips, tricks etc

The variation was pioneered in Pakistan and is greatly attributed to Pakistan's famous production of Fast bowlers as children are brought up playing the game using a tape ball in which various skills are developed.

its also one of the main reasons why we produce so many fast bowlers and how numerous youngsters too poor to afford proper equipment are introduced to the game.

swings and roundabouts really.

spot on. Tape ball is about pace bowling. Some of my Indian friends used to play with heavy tennis ball and their game was boring 1s and 2s. Once they were introduced to tape ball, it changed their mindset.

Hardly see any spinners with tape ball. Those who are, have to be exceptional.

Haven't played tape ball for years
It screws with your timing when you go back to playing with a normal ball .
Tape ball is fun compared to tennis ball cos playing with tennis ball unless your an exceptional bowler your gonna get bored .

The variation was pioneered in Pakistan and is greatly attributed to Pakistan's famous production of Fast bowlers as children are brought up playing the game using a tape ball in which various skills are developed.

This is the ball I'm playing with tomorrow. Any tips on possiblu swinging/seaming this ball? I dont know if shining this ball is possible at all, but any tips on grip and the wrist position anyone?

if u want swing the ball away from the batsmen then angle ur fingers towards slips(remember ur fingers and not the seam) and when u are about to release the ball put more pressure on ur middle finger to angle the ball away from the batsmen.
if u want to swing it in then angle ur fingers towards leg slip and when u are about to release the ball put more pressure on ur index finger to angle the ball in.
dont grip the ball too tight and a high arm action will allow u to get more swing than a slingy one.
and pitch the ball at good length,not too full as that will take out seam movement if any.

Anyone who played Tape knows that, the in-swing or out-swing means nothing if you are a fast or medium pacer. You will get hit, only way is, to do it as fast as you can, and control/vary your length.
If you are a spinner that is a total different. Anyone who says you can't spin the tape ball need to attended Ramazan late night tournament.

I used to love tape ball cricket.. i remember in the 90s when my gulee had lots of youngsters we used to play 2 day test matches during the summer holidays.. and to help the bowlers we used to tape only 3 quarters of the ball.. this caused the ball to reverse swing a great deal if the bowler was fast enough.. and the fielding side usually employed 2-3 slips..

rip some tape off on one side and then you can swing it towards the side that still has some tape. but only remove a little because you'll lose too much speed if there's too much friction in the air

also, when trying to hit down the ground, bat with a square on technique and get your front foot outside of leg stump at plant it there, you'll get under the ball a lot easier. i only use this technique in 6 over matches

As a coach - a conditioning one but a coach nevertheless - I state explicitly to not use these darned things in your cricket. They will ruin your batting techniques and you might never recover even five years on.

As a coach - a conditioning one but a coach nevertheless - I state explicitly to not use these darned things in your cricket. They will ruin your batting techniques and you might never recover even five years on.

This is the generally accepted principle and because of it Pakistan has produced fantastic fast bowlers and mediocre batsmen. On the other hand India uses something called a MRI ball which is a harder tennis ball. This produces the opposite, mediocre bowlers and fantastic batsmen.

"You aren't a failure if you fail, you are a failure if you don't get up to try again" - Imran Khan.

This is the generally accepted principle and because of it Pakistan has produced fantastic fast bowlers and mediocre batsmen. On the other hand India uses something called a MRI ball which is a harder tennis ball. This produces the opposite, mediocre bowlers and fantastic batsmen.

Yes, tape ball cricket for the most part produces blind sloggers - no offense to any of his fans here, but Shahid Afridi is a pertinent example.

As a coach - a conditioning one but a coach nevertheless - I state explicitly to not use these darned things in your cricket. They will ruin your batting techniques and you might never recover even five years on.

i know where your coming from but pak isnt new zealand, no one will pay for a cricket ball (let alone a proper bat) for some time pass in the street. a cricket ball would also destroy the masonry and brick walls of neighbours and get destroyed itself in about probably less than 10 overs of play.

ive played with a cricket ball myself on concrete and its fun but not practical for the situation most young kids in pakistan play the game in. the choice is between kids playing tape call cricket, or no cricket at all. id rather take them playing tape ball.

As a coach - a conditioning one but a coach nevertheless - I state explicitly to not use these darned things in your cricket. They will ruin your batting techniques and you might never recover even five years on.

This is the ball I'm playing with tomorrow. Any tips on possiblu swinging/seaming this ball? I dont know if shining this ball is possible at all, but any tips on grip and the wrist position anyone?

Tape heavily on one side and it will swing like anything or put lil bit mud underneath the tape on one side and it will make anyone dance lol On one side do what they do with the seam, loosen it, pick it up slightly on 2 to three rows so the umpire wont notice it and that will swing too but it will make a lot of noise as it rips through air(dont pick it up too much) so it becomes a lot easier for umpires and batsmen to figure out what you are upto.

spot on. Tape ball is about pace bowling. Some of my Indian friends used to play with heavy tennis ball and their game was boring 1s and 2s. Once they were introduced to tape ball, it changed their mindset.

Hardly see any spinners with tape ball. Those who are, have to be exceptional.

Just put an extra layer of tape as the seam. Then used the same tactics as hard ball. If you are good enough, then the ball will move. I play in my driveway with tape ball, and I can bowl leg and off spin easily.

Just put an extra layer of tape as the seam. Then used the same tactics as hard ball. If you are good enough, then the ball will move. I play in my driveway with tape ball, and I can bowl leg and off spin easily.

I can spin it when I bowl slow, and I can also get some seam movement when bowling pace, but I can't swing the bowl in the air with the tape tennis ball.

If you're playing outside on the pavement then you don't even need to tamper, bowl round arm for a couple of balls to make sure the ball is only landing on that side, eventually after 20-30 balls tape will start to come off from the side.

Then the fun starts

Does cricket survive off of it's money or does it survive for it's money?

I have playing a tapeball match tomorrow. It has been almost 3 years since i played weekend cricket.

Would appreciate any tips on slogging as most likely will be played as a relu katta

Keep yourself deep in the crease and play as late as possible. Contrary to popular beliefs, slogging as late as possible in Tape Tennis, yields one better results than playing on the up.

Also since no LBW would be applicable here take an off stump guard and as this will at least not let you throw your wicket away bowled. Unless and until the bowler absolutely bowls a Jaffa Yorker or the batsmen completely misses the trajectory of the ball altogether getting bowled with an off stump guard in Tape Tennis is one of the hardest dismissals.

Judge where the nearest boundary is and try to have a stance 90 degrees in that direction so naturally if you have a swing at it you'd have a higher change to play the oncoming delivery into that shortest direction. And Finally.........

Keep yourself deep in the crease and play as late as possible. Contrary to popular beliefs, slogging as late as possible in Tape Tennis, yields one better results than playing on the up.

Also since no LBW would be applicable here take an off stump guard and as this will at least not let you throw your wicket away bowled. Unless and until the bowler absolutely bowls a Jaffa Yorker or the batsmen completely misses the trajectory of the ball altogether getting bowled with an off stump guard in Tape Tennis is one of the hardest dismissals.

Judge where the nearest boundary is and try to have a stance 90 degrees in that direction so naturally if you have a swing at it you'd have a higher change to play the oncoming delivery into that shortest direction. And Finally.........

Channel your Inner Afridi

Happy Hacking !!

Thanks for the suggestion. Didn't bat very long in two matches but got a first ball six on midwicket in the first match which got everybody talking and made them send me as an opener in the 2nd match.